What’s the right route for Galveston Avenue?

Popular for eating, living and traveling, Bend’s Galveston Avenue is known to get a little crowded — which is why upgrades are around the corner.

“I’m excited to see what the new changes are going to be,” Hopscotch Kids owner Bridget Bostrom said Wednesday.

The city has released three conceptual designs for the area. Costs could range anywhere from $1 million to $5 million.

One option places a median down the middle of the corridor, with pockets for left turns, another ditches the middle turn lane reducing access to just two lanes, and a third is pretty similar to the road that’s already in place: two lanes, with a constant middle turn lane.

Option 3 is the favorite of the Galveston Avenue Business Association.

“It allows for thru-street driving and left-hand turning that are so crucial for businesses in the area,” said association spokeswoman and Westside Tavern Manager Nicole Weathers.

Weathers said more than 80 percent of businesses along the strip do not want the basic design of the road to change. What they do want is the same thing that’s also important to several nearby homeowners: more parking.

“The biggest thing for us, I think, is people not knowing where to park,” Bostrom said.

She said the parking-spot squeeze is putting a pinch on her business.

“If you can’t find a place to park right off the bat, you might keep driving,” Bostrom said.

So which option adds parking? They all do — roughly 50 spaces each.

Weathers hopes final designs could let businesses chose whether parking will be added in front of their stores.

‘What some of us on the task force are fighting for is to make it an individual, property-by-property basis,” Weathers said.”Some of the business owners are concerned that we don’t just get a cookie-cutter type of street. We would like to maintain the charm that is Galveston.”

It’s something city officials will have to weigh as they address their biggest priorities: improving bike lanes, adding sidewalks and making the area safer for the long run, while fitting the overall vision for the community.

“It’s a big connection to the city east and west, and it’s also one of our main transit routes,” said Bend Growth Management Director Nick Arnis.

The next step is a series of public meetings to get community feedback. Any construction is likely a few years away.

A public meeting on the design concepts will be held Thursday night from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bend City Hall.

You can view the designs and get more information on the concepts here: http://bend.or.us/index.aspx?page=1092